Law firm leads on new lender launch

DLA Piper has advised On Deck Capital, a US based lending company on a joint venture with MYOB and a group of local investors on its Australia launch, the company’s first international expansion.

Headquartered in New York City, On Deck has originated more than US$2bn in loans to small businesses in the US and Canada, and expects to start making small business loans in Australian in the second half of 2015.

“We’re seeing a lot of market movement around this business to business lending environment to fill the gap between traditional bank lending and other business needs that aren’t being satisfied by the big banks,” said Lyndon Masters, who was the lead partner on the DLA Piper advisory team.

“This is significant for On Deck because a lot of the other potential entrants in the market are local.”

Masters said On Deck’s move to Australia is a fantastic sign for the strength of the economy, and signals growing US interest in the Australian market.

“I think it’s a real tick of approval to the strength of the Australian economy and business generally that On Deck’s decided out of anywhere they could have gone, to come to Australia,” he said. “It’s also indicative that the Big Four really control the lending market, but these guys wouldn’t come down here unless they saw prospects.”

DLA Piper’s Washington DC office has advised On Deck for a number of years, including acting on its 2014 IPO and stock exchange listing. The firm’s US office referred On Deck to their local counterparts for the launch of its Australian lending operations.